Drinking alcohol during pregnancy may trigger autism in babies

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy has been shown to cause many type of abnormalities including, but not limited to neurological damage, growth deficiencies, abnormal facial features and behavioral problems. See THIS link for more information on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It is unknown what amount of alcohol consumption is considered 'safe' so most doctors recommend total abstinance during pregnancy. Now, one of the leading FAS researchers is publishing his findings that alcohol consumption during pregnancy may be a contributing factor in causing autism. Read more below. You can also contact the doctor directly through the information below:

Dr Raja Mukherjee
SpR / Honorary Lecturer
Department of Mental Health Learning Disability
St Georges Hospital Medical School
rmukherj@sghms.ac.uk

London, Mar 23 (ANI): A new study, led by an Indian researcher, has suggested that women who drink alcohol during pregnancy put their babies at risk of developing autism.

Raja Mukherjee, a consultant psychiatrist at Surrey Borders Partnership NHS trust, earlier found that drinking while pregnant can give babies a condition called foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

He has now come up with his latest finding suggesting that the consumption of alcohol by expecting mothers can also cause autism.

This is the first research to cite that autism may be triggered by the child’s mothers alcohol intake during pregnancy.

Mukherjee said that the findings of this study might elevate concerns about the increasing alcohol consumption among women of childbearing age.

For the past 18 months, Mukherjee was examining children who have been damaged by their mother’s drinking during pregnancy and discovered that a high proportion of them have autism.

“Genetic conditions are by far the most common cause of autism but that is not to say that other things cannot cause it, and prenatal alcohol appears, possibly, to be [a cause]. Unlike genetic conditions, this is 100% preventable, Times Online quoted him, as saying.

While the Department of Health noted that more than half of all mothers drink alcohol while pregnant, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will issue a new warning about the dangers.

The findings of a recent survey suggest that 8 percent of women aged 18 to 24 had consumed at least 35 units of alcohol, i.e. about 15 glasses of wine, during the previous week. Binge drinking among young women has caused number of alcohol-related deaths in women aged 35 to 54 doubling between 1991 and 2005.

The British Medical Association warned earlier this year that the increase in alcohol consumption by young women will be seen in a rise in drinking during pregnancy thereby putting more babies at risk of being damaged by alcohol while in the womb.

In fact, Mukherjee has also warned earlier against any drinking during pregnancy as he thinks that even low levels of alcohol may endanger babies.

Drinking during pregnancy can cause foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which includes disorders ranging from minor anomalies such as low birth weight to severe FAS, the symptoms of which include mental retardation and facial abnormalities such as a short nose.

The findings of this research have been presented at scientific meetings. (ANI)

FRONTLINE: The Medicated Child

'Take meds, take meds, take meds.'"

"The rates of bipolar diagnoses in children have increased markedly in many communities over the last five to seven years," says Dr. Steven Hyman, a former director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "I think the real question is, are those diagnoses right? And in truth, I don't think we yet know the answer."

"We're dealing with developing minds and brains, and medications have a whole different impact in the young developing child than they do in an adult," says Dr. Marianne Wamboldt, the chief of psychiatry at Denver Children's Hospital. "We don't understand that impact very well. That's where we're still in the Dark Ages."

Frontline aired a somewhat balanced look at the issue of children and medication. Those of you involved in this field for any length of time will notice an absence of alternative therapies or a thorough look at what environmental issues may be contributing to these behaviors.

In my experience that is what is usually being medicated...behaviors. You never hear of a well-behaved child being medicated. Find a diagnosis that allows for a medical approach and run with it...that's what I see.

You can watch the full show HERE.

Let me know what you think.

Adam

Children and Medication

As most of you know, I am pretty firmly in the no medication camp when it comes to treating children. I will concede that in rare cases medication is necessary but those cases are very very rare. What I see most of the time is medication being used to treat behavioral issues and those are almost always treatable through the application of behavioral techniques that have been proven to work thousands of times. As far as medication goes, I am most unnerved by the blindness with which we subject our children to what are, in effect, uncontrolled clinical trials. Zyprexa, which has been shown to have some devastating side effects in adults is going to be used in children. Check out the first video to see a report on that. The second is probably much more controversial but it's my belief you are laregly only getting the drug companies talking points from the press so a little dose of 'alternate programming' is a good thing. As always, I advise parents to discuss all medical issues with their doctor but remember that your doctor MIGHT NOT KNOW. Most doctors receive most of their 'education' on drugs from drug company representatives. My goal is always to help inform the debate, not yell fire and run from the room...

adam